Feb 14, 2019 - Economy & Business
Retail spending sees biggest monthly drop since 2009
- Courtenay Brown, author of Axios Macro

Photo: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
U.S. retail sales dropped 1.2% in December from the previous month, the biggest monthly drop since 2009 and a surprise for economists who were expecting sales to rise by 0.1%, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
The big picture: The report, delayed several weeks because of the government shutdown, shows a pullback in spending from consumers. It raises concerns about what this could mean for the data on 4th quarter GDP growth, which was also delayed by the shutdown.
Go deeper: The lingering effects of the shutdown on economic data